


November 1986: It all Just Keeps Falling Apart

by macrossfan89



Series: Stolen and Forced Paths [3]
Category: Daria (Cartoon)
Genre: Aunt-Niece Relationship, Child Abduction referenced, Confronting painful truths, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Suicide, Triggers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 02:44:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19141975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macrossfan89/pseuds/macrossfan89
Summary: Time moves on for the Morgendorffers. A new tragedy befalls an already damaged home. Can estranged loved ones heal the pain? Secrets that have been buried almost two decades will be unearthed. A Father and Husband will be tested. Sisters will be tested. An southern matriarch will be forced to confront her sins if she doesn't want lose what's left her brood.





	November 1986: It all Just Keeps Falling Apart

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: this one is gonna be hard to get through in some places. If you haven't read the tags for this one do so now. May be triggering.

“Use your Fucking turn signal you stupid bastard!” Jake Morgendorffer screamed out the window of his ’79 Caprice station wagon. He had been attempting to merge into the left turn lane for the upcoming four-way intersection when a red pick-up suddenly did the same thing ten feet ahead of him without even signaling. This forced Jake to immediately slam on the brakes to avoid rear-ending the ignorant motorist, and thus elicit the present string of curses coming from his mouth. Unfortunately the sudden braking and screaming led to his three-year-old daughter waking up in her booster seat from her nap in a fright. “Why Daddy yell? Daddy Mad at me?” she sniffled.

Jake berated himself internally ‘ _God Damnit Jake. You swore you’d never yell in front of your kids.. kid. You promised yourself you’d never make your child afraid of you like Mad Dog made you and there you go and do it.’_

“No Quinn, Daddy isn’t made with you. He’s just mad at the man in the truck in front of us. He did something you’re not supposed to do when you’re driving. That’s all. Daddy could never be mad at his little princess.” The little red haired girl looked uncertain for a moment before smiling wide. “Ok daddy. Can we play the magic song before we go home?” Jake gave an amused, and relieved chuckle and said “of course sweetie.” Before popping a cassette into the slot under the radio while the light was still red.

_You're sailing softly through the sun_

_In a broken Stone Age dawn_

_You fly so high._

_I get a strange magic Oh, what a strange magic_

“Yay strange magic, strange magic” squealed the little girl from the back seat happily putting a big grin on her father’s face. It always tickled him how at the age of three his little girl already seemed to share his affinity for prog and symphonic rock. Before she could even walk she had always loved it when he’d break out his ELO and Pink Floyd LP’s. Hell for the longest time the only way to truly calm her down when she first started teething was to put his 45 of Comfortably Numb on the old LP12 and let it play until she was fast asleep. Despite her enthusiasm for the song, Quinn soon drifted off to sleep. Eventually they pulled into one of the family’s two assigned parking spaces at the apartment building. Quinn slowly woke as her father carried her up the stairs to their apartment. Jake ope

ned the door and set her down on the floor in the main hallway, through the door to the living room, he could hear water running in the kitchen sink. “Sweetie, why don’t you go give mommy a big hug while I go put up my coat and briefcase. Ok?”

“Ok daddy,” said Quinn as she took off into the living room causing Jake to grin wide before he headed off into his and Helen’s bedroom. He had just pulled off his winter coat and set his brief case on the bed when he felt a tug on his pant leg. He turned around and looked down to see Quinn with a worried look upon her face.

“What’s wrong princess?” He asked with growing concern.

“M-mommy won’t get up. I think she needs a band aid.” “Why would she need a-?” Jake’s heart stopped when he saw the red smears on his daughter’s hand and on his slacks which she was she still gripping tightly. In a whirl he grabbed Quinn and sat her on the bed, “Sweetie s-stay h-here and don’t come out till I say so ok.” “But mommy?” “Just do what I say!” He shouted in panic. “Ok daddy,” she said in a shaky voice.

In an instant Jake tore down the hallway, through the living room and into the kitchen, all the while he could still hear the kitchen sink running. When he finally entered the kitchen he stopped, dumbstruck at the horrible sight that had waited for him. There, on the soaking wet linoleum floor in front of the sink was Helen. Blood flowing from her slashed left wrist and a large knife on the floor next to her.

“HELEN!” He screamed. He collapsed in front her and pulled her limp form into his lap. Quickly grabbing a dish rag from the handle of a cupboard and clumsily tying it around the hemorrhaging gash. “God Helen no, please God no. Why? Why would you do this?”

“Daddy” came a whisper from the door to the living room. Jake looked up, the tears now running down his cheeks obscuring his vision slightly, and saw Quinn standing there holding the box of band aids they kept in cabinet under the bathroom sink. “I got the band aids. Can you make mommy better now?” She said in a soft whimper. Jake felt his breath hitch in his chest, he couldn’t say anything. All he could do was look down at his silent wife. His eyes trailing from her still bleeding wrist to her large pregnant belly.


End file.
